Build a Custom Store to Promote In-App Sales

As publishers hone their tablet publishing sales strategy, they have new tools to upsell and cross-sell content to readers. Both publishers and corporations pay close attention to the visual presentation of products and services in order to entice customers toward purchase. Digital Publishing Suite, Enterprise Edition customers can build a custom store in the app to showcase fresh content and drive incremental sales to a captive audience. All Digital Publishing Suite multifolio apps include a Library view allowing readers to scan the publication’s titles and purchase new content. While this has been a fruitful business practice for publishers, Enterprise customers can build custom stores with HTML in order to more accurately reflect the publisher’s brand and promote top-selling titles, ultimately driving folio sales to a fully engaged audience.

What is a custom HTML store?
A custom store built in a Digital Publishing Suite app showcases products, services, and special features available for sale. It is accessed through a “Store” slot in the navigation bar. In contrast with the existing Library view in Digital Publishing Suite, it can be organized to feature and promote top-selling titles or products, influencing reader purchase. The publisher can use the store’s flexible design to incorporate images, typography and layout that provide a richer, branded experience.

Two Condé Nast titles use the same custom store structure, different branding

Several Condé Nast titles have created custom HTML stores in order to merchandise content and drive incremental sales to their readership. Download a copy of WIREDor The New Yorkerto fully experience the features. The landing page showcases the most recent issue with a more prominent cover icon and a short description of featured articles. When the reader taps on the cover, he not only sees an enlarged view of the cover, but can also scroll through the table of contents, similar to the selection process at an actual newsstand. Swiping through back issues, the reader can scan the table of contents for each issue and carefully select and purchase relevant content. The tabs on the top of the store navigate to featured items – such as the WIRED App Guide or The Year in Gear.

New Yorker has the same organization as WIRED, but uses colors, typography, images and content that reflect The New Yorker brand. Whereas WIRED’s customers are drawn in by the latest technology (such as apps or gear), The New Yorker customers are enticed by collections of stories from renowned authors.Build your own custom store

The article “Build a horizontal swipe storefront with folio preview” provides developers with a template for creating and customizing your own store within a viewer app. This template enables users to swipe horizontally through store pages, view folio previews, and navigate to different sections of the store which can feature different categories of product offerings.

Custom Stores in Business Publications
The custom store is not limited to merchandising digital publications. Rather, its capabilities extend beyond content to products and services that readers may be interested in. For example, a fashion retailer may use Digital Publishing Suite to publish a catalogue that contains physical products for sale within the custom store of the app. A membership organization could sell t-shirts and mugs to its members. This streamlines the purchasing process without asking the reader to change gears and leave the app.

Why HTML?

HTML provides the flexibility required for a custom store. Web pages in the custom slots of the navigation bar can be hosted by the publisher if desired, rather then embedded them in the viewer app. If a publisher needs to revise the price of an issue or feature a timely promotion, hosted HTML allows the designer to modify the content and immediately update the store without requiring the end user to update the viewer app.

HTML allows for transactional capabilities, allowing customer to purchase content or physical goods within the app.

HTML allows for highly customized visual design and user experience, and also allows existing web assets to be re-purposed.